Friday, August 19, 2011

Save Money Purchasing?

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has hired an outside accounting firm to streamline the City of Chicago’s procurement and contracting process, in what he hopes will save tens of millions of dollars.

With a Southwest Side city workshop as a backdrop, Mayor Emanuel announced that the firm Accenture will conduct a complete evaluation of the city’s procurement services, and he says the company predicts it will find at least $25 million in savings.

“While Accenture will go through all the contracts, help us vote on the consolidation, and find efficiencies and savings, they do not get paid because they identify the savings,” he said. “They do not see any value until the taxpayers see value.”

That means if the city saves $25 million or more, then Accenture will receive up to 10 percent of that savings.

Here's a question - how did Rahm get Accenture to agree to only $2.5 million (10% of the savings)? Because we could go through the budget tomorrow and find easily double that inside of a few hours. City procurement is among the most corrupt and bloated of services. Too much of it is laden with "mark-ups" for connected vendors and specialty suppliers. We've given examples before:

Let's say you need a length of chain to secure a fence. You can't just go to Home Depot and get three feet of chain for $10. You have to draw up a proposal, submit it (sometimes twice), get an "approved" vendor (many times a storefront operation) to agree to supply the chain, get their fee added in (this layer can be larger than just one company by the way), then they run out to Home Depot and buy the chain for $10 while charging the city $15 or $20 - sometimes a lot more.

It goes this way for all procurement. Chains, light bulbs, paint, even dog food for K9. There are dozens of "approved vendors" who have storefront offices,a telephone answering service and nothing else at all. They have no warehouses, no supply chain, no assets whatsoever except for a connection to City Hall, or in many cases, a church. It's such a fertile ground for an investigative reporter to make a name for themselves that we're surprised it hasn't been explored before. Or it has been and the editors refuse to let the story run lest they offend certain people.

45 Comments:

How about those idiot riot helmets ? When I was going to retire,I could'nt locate my company issued one. I inquired as to what it would cost me to replace it. I was told 220 clams,Yikes!I sez,I'll get back to you. So I scrounge around online and find a distributor in California,who says they sell them for 88 bucks.Then as I attempt to purchase one,they give me the left hook,BAM!,you cant buy one,you're not an authorized dealer. Nuff said !

W.G.A.S. (who gives a shit) said...How about those idiot riot helmets ? When I was going to retire, I could'nt locate my company issued one. I inquired as to what it would cost me to replace it...8/19/2011 12:53:00 AM

Is this something new?

When I retired 6 years ago, nobody ever asked me for my helmet. It's still sitting in the bag in my garage where I put it the day I retired.

Someone should look into ‘SilkScreen Express’ the sole vender for any type of silkscreen products used by the City. This is an approved contractor who gouges the City as the sole contracted vendor. When I was in the CAPS office I attempted to purchase tee shirts for a district function from a silk screener within the district. Not a bad thing, small business within the district with a price of $9.50 a shirt. I was told that I had to use SilkScreen Express, because they had the sole contract. They charges $15.50 + delivery from Joliet. This company has the sole City contract but not a city address! But, they did have City Hall Clout, and still do. Clear, Open and Transparent Administration. It’s clear to see that this administration is open to the same BS dealings as the last administration.

Another "connected" firm gets a juicy city contract. That supposed $25 million "savings" can be tossed to the Flint Taylor "dose cops tortured me to seeze I done do it" fund. Anything to get Daley off the hook fund. If there is all this mismangement then why did it go on so long under the "micro-manager" Daley?

On June 15, 2002, Andersen was convicted of obstruction of justice for shredding documents related to its audit of Enron, resulting in the Enron scandal. Nancy Temple (Andersen Legal Dept.) and David Duncan (Lead Partner for the Enron account) were cited as the responsible managers in this scandal as they had given the order to shred relevant documents. Since the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not allow convicted felons to audit public companies, the firm agreed to surrender its CPA licenses and its right to practice before the SEC on August 31, 2002 - effectively putting the firm out of business.

As another example, we need a Med-Eng bomb suit that from the company costs 25k. We make the order and the "procurer" picks up a phone and verifys that order and now our grant funds are charged 35k. That's right! 10k for making a phone call.

Here's another we used to be able to go to local hardware store and buy batteries, wires and other knock knacks that we use to create training devices and the like. Now we can not because that violates the city's new policy. So no new training aides :(.

It doesn't start or finish there but if the government ever comes and does an audit, they will see how screwed up this department is. We are a laughing stock in many circles and not because of the policemen.

This is where untold billions of taxpayer treasure has gone *poof* over the last 20+ years... Purchasing/authorized (read as clouted, inside track having) dealers and sweetheart no-bid contracts being given to the second and third generation of the paterfamilias who owe allegiance to the Chicago Criminal-Political machine going back to the days of Anton Cermak and before.

But we all know that the "greedy coppers with their lavish pensions and early retirements who refuse to chip in and take pay cuts and accept give-backs to 'help' the city climb out of the budget deficit" are at fault for the current state of fiscal affairs in this town.

The public has bought into this peculiar brand of crazy and embrace it whole-heartedly.

The Police have been scapegoated and shit-talked as a distractor from the REAL CRIMES that have been occurring.

The bloodshed on the streets is perfect cover for the epic financial criminality that has led a thriving economic engine to tottering on the brink of the abyss...

But The Police get shit on?

We dream a dream where the public gets everything they wish for and everything they deserve for singing along with this opera of madness...

Heh... "All you coppers do is complain..."

No... We used to give a shit about the fate of this city as those good people who inhabit it. It wasn't complaining so much as sounding the alarm.

The so called good people turned their backs every time they had a chance over the span of 20+ years to effect change before the current cabal of assclowns became so deeply entrenched.

Now they have bought access not only to the White House but to the highest law enforcement office of the land, U.S.D.O.J.

Daley Inc. has moved heaven & earth to accomplish this... Absolute impunity and full immunity from justice for all crimes comitted against the people of Chicago.

And the best the people of Chicago can do is finger-point and shit-talk The Police? We do declare, that as life long residents who tried to live by the moral principles of integrity, honesty and hard work for it's name sake; (because we were taught that) we don't know who this current crop of so called good Chicagoans are.

We know they call themselves citizens, free men, taxpayers and all that but given the totality of what has occurred and is occurring, their claims to the above are dubious and strain credulity.

Now you good citizens are going to see bullshit on an unprecedented scale... Especially if "the hollow dude" wins another term or 9.5 throws his hat in the ring.

Yeah, yeah... We heard ya... "Stop complaining and counting your days to retirement and do something about this crime!"

You Chicagoans think a few planter boxes of flowers and trying to take a nickel from the hand of a copper who earned it the hard way is going to save this city?

I think that you are for too low in your estimate of the "city procurement tax". That $10 chain would be sold to the city for $100 or more. Everybody in the supply line gets a cut. There are a lot of people in the supply line.

the media wont touch anything that will be of any benefit to the TAXPAYER, as mayor light finger klepto likes to always say. The 2012 elections are right around the corner, the worthless jay levines of the chicago media, are to afraid of not being the lap dogs for the chicago latrine of politics.

I think you're assuming that Accenture is going to find $25 million and quit. That's the just the bare minimum to get paid. To me that sounds like motivation to find a lot more.

This is a world wide company with at least 200,000 employees. They won't be bullied by the city. All the Daley cronies with inflated contracts better start shitting in their pants because their day has come.

So Rahm wants to fuck over city vendors like he fucked over the teachers. A contract is a contract and needs to be upheld and renegotiated when it is up for renewal.Who would want to be a city vendor anyway? Wait months to get paid, get villified and adhere to BS rules.Fuck You Rahm.

they will only save money when they get rid of the set-aside minority racket. You are right SCC. These companies are not true companies. It's a guy with a cell phone sitting in a basement who makes the order for whatever product and then pads the price, hence the minority contract. Most of those who get these contracts are politcally connected and hve no business experience whatsoever. Just stealing tax payer money sanctioned by the dummycrats.

"There are dozens of "approved vendors" who have storefront offices,a telephone answering service and nothing else at all. They have no warehouses, no supply chain, no assets whatsoever except for a connection to City Hall, or in many cases, a church."

Office supplies. One "vendor" takes the order then goes to Office Max/Office Depot, gets the best price on the order, then resells it to the city at a healthy mark-up.

Accenture broke away from Arthur Anderson before Enron. It seems a bit silly to me for all of you to bitch and moan when we actually have someone trying to save this city money without selling off our city assets.

If you guys knows much please tell me who should do this instead of Accenture?

When we actually get a mayor willing to release TIF funds to the entities they're supposed to be going to instead of connected developers then I know the mayor is getting serious.

OK..Here is an investigative reporting feature for all you would be reporters who only investigate where to eat..

DELL.

Look in every station, look in every office, look in every Area. Look at he computer..The crap that we have, with the small monitor we have...with a corporate contract is less than $500....Now ask for what the City paid for them? Take a look and tell me if there is a problem. Minority contracts you wont frigging post..GOD forbid..But when you are charged an extra 500% per computer and monitor...and you are actually supposed to report the news...it should raise and eyebrow...Oh...and Del still delivers them...It's just passing money..I pay %%%%%%% this much,he pays this much into my friends coffers, then the people I pay deliver the computers...Set up and scans come from my own people with one mirror...on to the next scam..Have we talked vehicle maintenance? Start here next..

Anonymous said... OK..Here is an investigative reporting feature for all you would be reporters who only investigate where to eat..

DELL.

Look in every station, look in every office, look in every Area. Look at he computer..The crap that we have, with the small monitor we have...with a corporate contract is less than $500....Now ask for what the City paid for them? Take a look and tell me if there is a problem. Minority contracts you wont frigging post..GOD forbid..But when you are charged an extra 500% per computer and monitor...and you are actually supposed to report the news...it should raise and eyebrow...Oh...and Del still delivers them...It's just passing money..I pay %%%%%%% this much,he pays this much into my friends coffers, then the people I pay deliver the computers...Set up and scans come from my own people with one mirror...on to the next scam..Have we talked vehicle maintenance? Start here next..

It's all business as usuall SCC with the City and the CPD....Riddle me this SCC:Which hearing officer for the Chicago police board (an INDEPENDENT BODY) has the same business address for his Law firm as does the longest serving member of the Police Board, whom also has the same address for his Corporation?Here's a clue They both serve on the Illinois State Police Merit Board as hearing officer and Board member respectively.....huh mm mm...Ok, SCC check out the trail of City contracts that numerous Police Board Members have with the City of Chicago.....it's all on the Web, we just need to start connecting the dots....

IF we actually had Investigative Reporters in Chicago all one has to do is look at the minority set aside program. To allegedly get minority representation in city business, a simple widget costing a dollar each available at a host of local retail stores in Chicago are bought for 3-5 times retail even though bought in bulk by the city 'agent.'The agent, literally has a cubicle or home office where they simply catalog request items (i.e. widgets) and add, sometimes 3-500% markup and sell it to the City, thereby giving the City stats about minority contracts while over paying through the nose.Ray Charles could see these grand thefts and yet NOTHING from those people who could/should expose this daily fraud.Aw, 'SHAW' maybe I'm just 'YELLIN' at the wind here.

How about those idiot riot helmets ? When I was going to retire,I could'nt locate my company issued one. I inquired as to what it would cost me to replace it. I was told 220 clams,Yikes!I sez,I'll get back to you. So I scrounge around online and find a distributor in California,who says they sell them for 88 bucks.Then as I attempt to purchase one,they give me the left hook,BAM!,you cant buy one,you're not an authorized dealer. Nuff said !

.......,,,,............

You are soft. I have two, my original one and the newer one I retired with. Each cost me one cup of coffee for the guy at equip and supply. Nowwhat will I do with them? My kids will toss them when I croak. Not soon though I hope.

Progressive Industries owned by the ex-wife of Aunt Bea's current hubby is a woman-owned business with such connections supplying a bunch of stuff the city could get far cheaper going direct. How is this legal?